Writers' Trail ~ West Coast
Jenny Pattrick
FOLLOW THE GUIDE TO THE PLACE THAT INSPIRED TWO
BEST-SELLING NOVELS Jenny Pattrick's writings about the hard life on the Denniston hills, a coal mining settlement near Waimangaroa, captured readers' imagination. The Denniston Rose (2003) and its sequel Heart of Coal (2004) are among New Zealand’s most popular novels. For many decades Denniston was the country’s largest producing coal mine. The coal was loaded into railway wagons and lowered by cable down a dramatically steep incline railway – the Denniston Incline, an extraordinary engineering feat. The miners and their families lived on the windswept plateau, where their isolation forged a close-knit community of up to 1500 residents. Two houses and restored mining relics are all that remain today. While researching her books, Jenny Pattrick spent considerable time at Denniston, talking to locals and acquainting herself with the geography of the old mining town. People are now able to visit key sites featured in Jenny Pattrick’s novels thanks to a self-guided trail developed by the Denniston Heritage Trust, supported by the Department of Conservation and Jenny Pattrick. It takes visitors along 17 key locations from the books, presents the author reading extracts from them, and provides quick and easy access to historical photographs and video clips, plus oral history from ex residents and former miners. The official opening of the trail took place at Denniston on 31 March 2012. Jenny Pattrick introduced the tour, performed live readings and guided visitors to the locations of her novels. The Denniston Literary Trail is available for self-paced visitors in a printed brochure and as a free downloadable app from here Written by: Chrissie Ward
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Jenny Pattrick has written a number of other titles as well as the two set in Denniston, and is considered one of NZ's most popular contemporary novelists. She has been awarded the OBE for services to the arts, and has received the NZ Post Mansfield Fellowship. |
GETTING THERE
Denniston Road begins at Waimangaroa, which is 16 kms north of Westport on State Highway 67. At Waimangaroa head northeast on McGill Street towards Stewart Street. McGill Street turns slightly right and becomes Banbury Street.
Continue on to Denniston Road. The drive to Denniston takes about 15 minutes; the 9 kms of road is winding but sealed.
Denniston Road begins at Waimangaroa, which is 16 kms north of Westport on State Highway 67. At Waimangaroa head northeast on McGill Street towards Stewart Street. McGill Street turns slightly right and becomes Banbury Street.
Continue on to Denniston Road. The drive to Denniston takes about 15 minutes; the 9 kms of road is winding but sealed.